


Think We Kissed But I Forgot

by rosethomass (orphan_account)



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Amnesia, Las Vegas, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-29
Updated: 2013-03-29
Packaged: 2017-12-06 22:45:14
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,667
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/741022
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/rosethomass
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Team Free Will stopped the Apocalypse, saved the world, and none of them got killed in the process. So to celebrate, the two hunters and two angels head to Vegas to celebrate the end of the Apocalypse like no one's ever celebrated the end of an Apocalypse before. Too bad Sam doesn't remember any of it the next morning. But he gets the feeling that something important happened. And why is Dean carrying around a teddy bear?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Think We Kissed But I Forgot

**Author's Note:**

  * For [nileflood](https://archiveofourown.org/users/nileflood/gifts).



> Written for [nileflood](nileflood.livejournal.com) for the prompt: _A disastrous night out on the tiles. Drunken antics, pranks, running from the law, declarations of love. Think Katy Perry's "Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F)"_ over on the [Sabriel Birthday Challenge](sabriel-bday.livejournal.com) on LiveJournal. It's four days late, I know. Sorry. :/ But it's here and that's what matters! Better late than never! :D

Sam had fallen off the wagon. There was no other explanation for the utterly awful he felt. He had fallen off the wagon, poured gallons of demon blood down his gullet, and Dean had been forced to restrain him in the panic room to detox.

How else was he going to explain this bone-deep ache all throughout his body and a pounding, throbbing pain in his head?

At least he couldn’t recall any hallucinations or seizures. There was a stench of vomit in the air, so he knows there must have been some. But he can’t remember any of them, unlike all the other times.

He should really get off the floor and call Dean. Tell him he’s all cleaned out and beg for forgiveness. He can’t recall drinking the blood either or even why he would feel the need to do so…

Now that he thinks about it, he can’t remember the last few days at all.

A call to Dean is definitely in order.

But he should get off the floor first.

“Unhh…” Sam’s cheek is stuck to the floor, glues there with what he hopes is just dry drool and not any other kind of bodily fluids. His skin unsticks slowly as he lifts his head from the…

Tiles? When did Bobby tile the panic room? Last time Sam had seen it, the floor was pure cement. Why would he be lying on tiles?

His eyes are still shut tight, sealed by a thick layer of crust and lids too heavy to lift. Painfully, he forces them open and immediately regrets it when the light stabs his eyeballs.

Blinking away the pain and squinting, Sam manages to see enough of his surroundings to know that he is lying on a bathroom floor. A bathroom he doesn’t recognize.

_Dean. I need to find Dean._

“De-“ he tries to call out, but he cuts off with a dry cough, his throat on fire. Struggling, Sam gets his arms under him and pushes himself up, clearing his throat enough to try again. This time, Dean’s name comes out in a rasp, but at least it’s audible.

There’s no reply, so Sam tries again as he gets onto his knees, feeling his head spin. There’s a response this time and it’s in the form of a muffled, “mnf” from somewhere nearby. Using the wall as a support, Sam gets onto his feet and resists the urge to puke, his stomach lurching.

Sam thinks the sound came from the bathtub a few feet before him so he stumbles toward it, rubbing his with one hand while the other reaches out to pull aside the curtain around the tub. Looking down into the tub, all the ache left his body in a rush, his mind instantly sober and clear, fear and shock pushing past everything.

Dean was pressed up with his back against the porcelain wall of the tub, a strip of blue fabric around his head, fully, clothed and his warm was around a large mound of thick brown fur—which was the shocking part. The mound of fur was rising and falling, breathing evenly inits sleep. Near Dean’s head was the muzzle and face of what was unmistakably a grizzle bear, small enough to fit in a bathtub, but large enough to rip Dean to shreds if startled awake.

“Dean,” Sam muttered, frozen where he stood, shower curtain in his tight fist, “don’t freak out, okay?”

“Hm?”Dean mumbled but didn’t open his eyes. His hand—the one in the grizzly’s fur—started feeling around curiously, wondering what exactly it was resting on. Suddenly, it froze and Dean’s body became very tense. “Sammy…I’m scared to open my eyes. Am I sleeping with a grizzly or a big hairy man?”

“Grizzly.”

Dean sighed with relief. “Oh, good.”

“How is that good?!” Sam exclaimed in a harsh whisper, afraid to speak too loudly and startle the sleeping bear.

“A bear will kill me quickly,” Dean explained, “but if I’m sleeping with a big hairy man, Cas will draw out my death slowly and painfully.”

Opting not to argue with that logic, Sam asked instead, “Why are you sleeping in a bathtub with a damn _grizzly bear?”_

Eyes still closed, Dean just growled out, “Sam, find Gabriel. _Now._ ”

Gabriel? How was he supposed to find Gabriel? Sam hadn’t seen the archangel since…uh…last week? Maybe? He couldn’t remember.

“Where?”

“I don’t know!” Dean ground out, keeping the volume low. “Try the hotel room. Last time I saw him, he was dressed like Elvis and hanging off your arm like a damn groupie.”

Sam started, but considering Dean could get mauled by a grizzly bear any moment now, he wasn’t about to start a discussion. He rushed out of the bathroom door and was met with what looked more like a garbage dump than a hotel room. It smelled only slightly better.

It didn’t take long to find Gabriel, sprawled out on one of the beds, jaw hanging open, tasseled shirt half off and tasseled pants low on his hips.

“Gabriel” Sam smacked his leg and Gabriel jumped awake with a gasp. “Why is my brother sleeping in a bathtub with a grizzly bear? I thought you were done trying to kill him!”

Gabriel sniffed and blinked his eyes blearily, running a hand through his hair that was completely undone from its usual immaculate styling. “I am,” he said grumpily. “I didn’t make a grizzly bear.”

“Well I don’t know who else would,” Sam argued irritably, “and Dean is cuddling with one in the tub right now and it’s going to wake up any minute and kill him!”

Gabriel frowned up at Sam, confused and bleary for a moment, and then suddenly his face cleared, eyes open wide in shock. “Oh! Crap…” He swung his legs over the bed and shot to his feet, pausing for a moment as he swayed dangerously. He regained his balance and strode quickly to the bathroom, Sam right behind him.

“Did you take pictures, Sam?” Gabriel chuckled upon seeing Dean in the tub with his furry friend.

“Gabriel!” Dean growled, eyes still screwed shut and body still as a statue. “I think he’s waking up. _Get rid of him!_ ”

“All right, fine.” Begrudgingly, Gabriel raised his hand, snapped his fingers, and the large, dozing grizzly in Dean’s arms transformed into a soft, harmless teddy bear in his hand.

Dean let out a huge breath of relief and sat up, glaring at Gabriel. “What the hell, man?!”

Gabriel shrugged. “Sorry, Dean-o. You passed out last night and I was gonna give you a teddy bear to sleep with for a laugh…but I guess I was so drunk I gave you a real bear instead. Oops?”

Pulling himself to his feet and out of the tub, teddy bear in hand, Dean grumbled, “Yeah. ‘Oops’. Douchebag. You’re just lucky we’re friends now or I would deep-fry your wings.” Now that Sam could see him completely, he noticed the blue fabric around his head was actually Castiel’s tie.

“That’s right,” Gabriel grinned. “We’re _real_ close friends, aren’t we, Sam?” There was suddenly a hand squeezing Sam’s ass and he yelped, startled. He jumped away from Gabriel, who was leering at him.

Sam stared at him in shock, completely taken aback by the brazenness. He knew Gabriel had no boundaries, but had thought he at least marginally respected other peoples’. Just because Gabriel had been helping them fight the Apocalypse the last few weeks didn’t mean they were _that_ close.

Dean didn’t seem very shocked. He just stretched and yawned, still holding his teddy bear. “Gross. Don’t do that in front of me. Where’s Cas?”

Gabriel was watching Sam with a puzzled look and Sam was trying to wrap his mind around everything that was happening. “Uh…I don’t know. I didn’t see him in the room when I went to get Gabriel.”

“Shit…” Dean groaned. “We lost Cas? Crap, we’re living in The Hangover and we lost Cas. I’m Bradley Cooper. Gabriel, you can be Zach Galafinakis.”

“We didn’t lose Cas, Dean.” Gabriel rolled his eyes. “He’s just…hiding. Let’s go find him.”

As the three of them filed out of the bathroom, Sam asked, “The Hangover? What are you talking about? Where are we?” It was really perturbing that he was the only one completely confused as to what was happening in a strange hotel room with large forest animals in the bathtub and a lecherous archangel groping his ass.

The other two turned to look at him with eyebrows raised.

“You don’t remember anything from last night, Sambo?” Gabriel asked and there was a hint of what Sam thought sounded like hurt in his voice, which was weird. He’d never heard that coming from Gabriel before.

Sam shrugged and shook his head (which didn’t really help his headache). “No, not really. The last thing I remember is…” He frowned and looked away, trying to recall the last thing he remembers doing. “I guess…getting ready to face off Lucifer…” Suddenly, a lot of things made sense; like the demon blood detox and why Gabriel was with them, but it raised a lot more questions. Had they won? Maybe Sam had died and this was some kind of weird alternate universe.

Dean and Gabriel exchanged a concerned look.

“Things did get pretty rough for him after that,” Gabriel said to Dean, whose expression was dark. “Maybe his brain blocked it all out?”

“Yeah, and I bet those tequila shots helped a lot with that.” Dean sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose with the hand not holding the bear. “Let’s find Cas and we’ll figure out Sam’s head after.”

The hotel wasn’t very big or lavish. There weren’t many places for a fully-grown angel to hide and one look around the room proved that he, in fact, wasn’t there.

“Maybe he took off?” Sam offered, eyes tracing around the room again.

“I doubt it,” Gabriel replied, searching the room as well. “He’s here somewhere… I think I left him somewhere last night after he passed out, right before I went to sleep.”

“You _left_ him somewhere?” Even if Sam couldn’t remember what happened the night before, it was pretty obvious to him now. The tie around Dean’s head, Gabriel’s Elvis costume, Dean’s mention of tequila shots and Gabriel’s of Castiel passing out. The four of them had all gone out partying and gotten drunk the night before. Drunk enough to knock out two angels. That didn’t sound like the kind of thing people just forgot, so why couldn’t Sam remember any of it?

“ _Where?_ ” Dean demanded, fists clenching and fingernails digging into the plush of the teddy bear.

“Take a chill pill, Winchester,” Gabriel said irritably.  “Let me think…” Sam firmly refused to notice how cute the furrow in Gabriel’s brow was.

“Oh!” Gabriel exclaimed, grinning suddenly. “I remember!” He strode over to the closet by the hotel door and pulled it open, revealing an unconscious Castiel hanging from his suit jacket and trenchcoat from the hook on the door. He was limp and unmoving, completely unfazed by the movement of the door he was hanging off.

“Is he dead?!” Dean bellowed and Gabriel rolled his eyes.

“No, Romeo, your Juliet isn’t dead. Don’t go offing yourself yet. He’s just passed out.” With a snap of his fingers, Gabriel disappeared Castiel from the hook and reappeared him lying on the bed…except Castiel’s clothes stayed behind on the hook.

“Gabriel!” Dean barked, hurrying to cover up his naked—and still unconscious—boyfriend while Sam looked pointedly anywhere else.

“Oops?” Gabriel mumbled, frowning at his fingers.

Castiel was groaning and coming to, so Dean pulled off the clothes from the closet and brought them over to him.

“I think my hangover’s making my powers act a bit wonky,” Gabriel said. Castiel was getting dressed with the help of Dean. “Hey, bro. Welcome to the horror known as the Day After. How much do you remember from last night?”

“Everything, unfortunately,” Castiel grumbled, pulling on his pants and studying the bear in Dean’s hand confusedly.

“Well, that’s good news. Only one person we have to explain everything to. Sasquatch here forgot everything.”

Sam’s ears turned pink.

Castiel paused in the middle of buttoning up his dress shirt to look at Sam, then Gabriel, and ask his brother, “Sam does not remember anything? Whatsoever?”

“Not a second of it,” Gabriel replies bitterly.

“I am sorry,” Castiel says, but it’s not to Sam. It’s directed at Gabriel.

Castiel goes back to getting himself dressed and notices his tie is not with the rest of his clothes. Looking up at Dean, he sees it around his head and holds out his hand in silent demand. Dean pulls it off to hand it to him, but pauses, has a second thought and instead wraps it around the teddy bear’s head, grinning. Castiel raises an eyebrow but decides not to comment and finishes getting dressed.

“Did I do something last night?” Sam asks loudly, feeling very uncomfortable.

Dean snorts unhelpfully. “Boy, is that an understatement.”

Before Sam could ask for elaboration, Gabriel cut in, “Let’s not jump _that_ particular topic right now, shall we?” His voice was increasingly bitter and almost insulted and Sam figured he must have done something to Gabriel last night, which was making Sam very anxious. “Let’s sit down and start from where Sam’s brain leaves off. Which is…?”

“Lucifer,” Sam replies, and everyone’s shoulders go tense.

_After the debacle at_ The Elysian Fields _with Gabriel faking his death, he had officially joined the team to stop Lucifer and the Apocalypse. He told the brothers and Castiel about the Horsemen’s rings and promised to help as much as he could._

_When Sam came up with the idea to say yes to Lucifer and jump into the cage, no one chewed him out harder than Gabriel. Sam didn’t understand why Gabriel was so bothered by the idea, but it had led to numerous arguments between the two which ended when Gabriel—angrier than Sam had ever seen him—shouted, “I didn’t spend six months torturing you to teach you a lesson just so you could and bend over for my brother anyways!”_

_After that, Sam and Gabriel agreed to stop fighting and instead focused their energies on formulating a better plan. In the end, the plan included lots of demon blood, Detroit, and Sam bending over for Lucifer anyways, much to Gabriel’s chagrin._

_It also included Gabriel going with Sam to face Lucifer while Dean and Castiel went on the search for Michael and Adam._

_Lucifer was genuinely surprised to see Gabriel and there was an actual spark of pain at the sight of his brother that Sam would never have thought he’d see in Satan’s eyes._

_After the brothers’ painful reunion, it was just a matter of Sam taking the Devil into his body…_

_…then Gabriel opening the door to the Cage…_

_…Lucifer fighting tooth and nail against Gabriel while wearing his friend’s face…_

_…Gabriel promising Sam he would never leave him…_

_…then pushing Sam through the door…_

Sam remembers falling now. Remembers losing his balance and Gabriel shoving him backwards. He remembers Lucifer roaring with rage inside him, remembers his hand reaching out for Gabriel. It wasn’t Lucifer reaching out for his brother; it was Sam reaching out for his friend, the one who had just promised never to leave him…

Gabriel had gripped Sam’s arm as he’d fallen, just as the Cage’s power got hol of Lucifer, pulling him down like a paper clip to a magnet. Sam had felt Gabriel’s Grace burning through him, fighting with Lucifer’s hold on him and ripping it away, pulling Sam back to him as Lucifer fell away.

“I can’t believe that worked,” Sam breathed, looking down at the floor as the memories of housing the Devil inside him came flooding back to him.

“It had been my plan, hadn’t it?” Gabriel protested grumpily.

“Which is why I’m so surprised,” Sam replied with a grin. Gabriel was clearly upset with him, but reverting to the teasing banter they had developed in the weeks of working together seemed to appease him slightly, softening his features a bit.

“What happened with Adam?” he asked Dean, who was fiddling with the bear in his lap.

“He’s fine,” Dean shrugged. “Once Luci was out of the picture, Mikey didn’t need him anymore so he let him go. Brought back his mom, too. Just like he promised. Cas and I took them home and…well…Adam would prefer we never show or faces around him again.” Sam winced, felt a pang of guilt. “But his mom invited us for Thanksgiving.”

Sam snorted. “Okay, so what happened after that?”

“You were passed out,” Gabriel supplied. “Taking Satan into your body and having him forcefully expelled by another archangel ain’t a cakewalk. It took a lot out of you.”

“How long was I out?”

“Thirty six hours,” Castiel replied. “Once Dean, Gabriel, and I reunited, they decided we should find a way to celebrate our success. Gabriel suggested we come to Las Vegas. We tried to wake you up first, but you weren’t responding.”

“Dean started freaking out because he thought you were dead or broken,” Gabriel continued. He had taken a seat next to Dean and Castiel on one bed while Sam sat on the other, facing all three of them. “You obviously weren’t, but it took me a while to convince him you were okay and just needed to rest. I took him out to the casinos and Cas promised to keep an eye on you. Dean was kinda tipsy when we came back and you were starting to come to so we…”

_There were murmurings and mutterings all around him and Sam figured now would be a good time to wake up. He felt like he’d been sleeping for weeks._

_He could feel consciousness slowly dragging itself to the front of his mind, making him more aware of the conversations around him, even if he couldn’t really make out any specific words. He could make out voices, though, and felt reassured at the familiarity of Dean’s and Castiel’s nearby…_

_He was then yanked violently into the land of the living by two loud airhorns blowing near his face, making him shoot up in bed with a shout just be faced with—_

_“THEY SAY IT’S YOUR BIRTHDAY!”_

_Sam screamed and shot up in bed, scrambling back against the headboard. There were three girls, dressed up in bedazzled leotards, tights, and lots of feathers and sparkles dancing at the foot of his bed, kicking up their legs as they sang._

_“IT’S MY BIRTHDAY TOO, YEAH!_

_THEY SAY IT’S YOUR BIRTHDAY_

_WE’RE GONNA HAVE A GOOD TIME!_

_I’M GLAD IT’S YOUR BIRTHDAY!_

_HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!”_

_Sam watched in mild horror as the girls sang an upbeat showtune version of the Beatles’ ‘Birthday’ song with kicks of their long legs and shaking of their hips in what was a very well-synchronized routine. Gabriel and Dean clapped and sang along with them, Sam still clutching a pillow desperately as he tried to get his breathing back under control._

_At the final verse, the girls spun around to give Sam their backs and as they sang the last line of ‘Happy birthday to you!’ they bent over and looked flirtatiously over their shoulders, and Sam just stared, mouth agape, as he tried to reconnect his brain cells._

_“Uh…thanks?” he mumbled awkwardly, not sure how to respond to this._

_“Yes, thank you ladies!” Dean swooped in, applauding heartily. “That was a wonderful show, wonderful. Just plain awesome. Thank you so much for that performance, really. Now why don’t you come along and get your tips while my turd of a brother gets reacquainted with the waking world, shall we?”_

_As Dean escorted the dancers out the door, congratulating them on a job well-done and giving each of them a generous tip, Sam turned to Gabriel, who was sucking on a lollipop and had a martini in the other hand._

_“Where are we?” he asked groggily, his heart still pumping erratically from the shock of being woken with such a performance._

_“We’re in Vegas, baby!” Gabriel announced, throwing his hands in the air, sloshing his drink. “Sorry about the song, by the way. The company didn’t have a very good selection of ‘Congratulations on stopping the Apocalypse’ songs, so we settled for a birthday number. But I think we got the message across. Congrats, buddy!” He clapped Sam on the shoulder and Sam grinned, rubbing his sore head bashfully._

_“He’s right, Sammy,” Dean added, coming over and smiling down at his brother. His eyes were glazed and his cheeks were pink, the freckles standing out. He’d been drinking, and had been for a while. “You did good, kid. Proud of you.”_

_“It was very brave of you, Sam.” Castiel had joined in the shower of praise and it was a bit too much for Sam to handle._

_“Yeah, yeah,” he muttered, not meeting any of their eyes. “I’m a big hero. That’s why I feel like crap.”_

_“No, that’s because you had Satan riding your bones.” Gabriel took a sip of his martini. “You’re a hero. And that’s why we’re in Vegas. To celebrate your stupidity!”_

_“I thought it was bravery?”_

_“Same thing. Now go get showered so we can get our party on!”_

_Rolling his eyes, Sam got off the bed and stretched, sighing in satisfaction when he heard his back pop. He didn’t know exactly how long he’d been asleep, but it was long enough to make him extremely sore. He went into the bathroom and turned on the faucet to splash water on his face, but when he looked up in the mirror he saw—_

_“Okay, which one of you drew the penis?” he called out. Dean’s laughter was answer enough and Sam rolled his eyes again. He examined the crudely drawn sex organ on his cheek and scoffed. “Penises don’t even bend that way, Dean! Does yours do that? You should get that checked out by a professional.”_

“Gabriel, can’t you just zap Sam’s brain clear?” Dean asked irritably. “If we’re gonna do a play-by-play of the entire night, this is going to take forever.”

“I made a grizzly bear instead of a teddy bear and zapped Castiel naked when I just meant to reposition him,” Gabriel said flatly. “I could try, but don’t get mad if I turn his brains into scrambled eggs or something.”

“Maybe Cas can do it?”

“I do not think that would be wise,” Castiel said, looking uncharacteristically shy. “I may have gotten my powers back, but I was just as inebriated as Gabriel last night and even sober I don’t have the skills he does.”

“Great,” Sam grumbled, rubbing his forehead. “We’ll just have to go piece by piece until it all comes back to me. What did we do after I washed up?”

Dean’s stomach grumbled. “Can we get some breakfast before we continue?” he complained. “I need some deep-fried grease.”

“I’ll call room service,” Gabriel said, picking up the phone on the nightstand. “Keep going. We’re nowhere near the good parts.”

“That doesn’t sound very reassuring,” Sam bemoaned.

Dean snorted again. “You have no idea. We went club-hopping then. It was pretty fun…”

_“Where are we getting the money to pay for all of this?” Sam asked, shouting over the loud music, still sober enough to care about things like that._

_“How do you think?” Dean called back. He had a drink in one hand and the other wrapped around Cas’ hip, pulling him close as he swayed a bit to the music, even if he’d never been one for dancing. “Gabriel. Our very own personal ATM.”_

_“Archangel teller machine.” Sam grinned and took a sip of his drink. “Where is Gabriel anyways?”_

_“Up on stage,” Castiel answered, looking way too sober compared to Sam and Dean. If he hadn’t been a freshly-recharged superpowerful angel, Sam would have felt pretty embarrassed at looking like such a lightweight._

_Sam turned around and found Gabriel onstage, being cheered on and applauded by the audience as he danced and laughed with the burlesque dancers whose performance he had crashed—but they didn’t seem to mind it. As the three of them watched on in amusement, Gabriel grabbed the microphone._

_“I know we’re all having fun and getting shit-faced here tonight.” The audience cheered in response._

_“Oh, God, what is he doing?” Sam muttered to himself._

_“But my friends and I are here to celebrate one person in particular.” Sam felt his cheeks burning and it wasn’t because of the alcohol. “He basically sacrificed himself to stop the Apocalypse and save the world, but none of you know about that, so let’s just say that it’s his birthday!”_

_The audience laughed and cheered, taking Gabriel’s Apocalypse comment as a joke._

_“Everyone give it up for Sam Winchester!” He pointed directly at Sam and everyone turned to look at him._

_Sam blushed and tried to hunker down and hide but his bulk wasn’t very easily ignored and it didn’t help that Dean—the traitor—was clapping along and pointing as well._

_Dean gave him a shove and suddenly there were hands pushing him to the stage by the burlesque dancers and a pink feather boa was put around his neck. Gabriel tugged at him so he was right in the spotlight next to him and put an arm around his waist._

_“Ain’t he a catch, folks?” There was an uproar of agreement, mostly female voices, and Sam felt like he was going to die of embarrassment. He considered the feeling of wanting the earth to open up and swallow him, but considering the events of the last few days, that was a terrifying situation that he didn’t want to consider again. “He’s completely available, ladies! And gentlemen, too! I don’t think he minds, do ya, Sambo?”_

_Later, Sam would blame the alcohol for his loose tongue and the bright spotlight adding to a hundred pair of eyes for the pressure that cracked him. “Not really, I’m up for anything.”_

_This time, the response was louder and male-dominated, making Gabriel laugh, which Sam could feel vibrating from having Gabriel pressed against his side._

_“Let’s celebrate Sam everybody!” Gabriel proclaimed and the crowd went wild, the music’s volume increasing again and everybody bursting into movement and dancing. The dancers onstage swarmed on Sam, pulling him this way and that, bumping their hips into his and making him dance with them. Sam laughed and went along with it as well as he could, letting one of the girls pull him in by the feather boa around his neck and plant a kiss on his cheek._

_The crowd started chanting his name and gathering in front of the stage, tightly packed, like a throng of fans trying to get closer to their favorite rock star. A couple of the girls gathered around him and ushered him backwards towards the edge of the stage. Knowing where this was going, Sam started shaking his head desperately, but they just laughed and smiled encouragingly, one of them mouthing ‘Lean back! Lean back!’_

_Sam screwed his eyes shut and took a deep breath before leaning backwards into the sea of club-goers. He expected to crash to the ground or crush some poor people under all 220 lbs of him, but he landed on a dozen soft hands that felt safe and firm, holding him up, making him feel like he was suspended in midair. They started guiding him backwards and Sam felt like he was drifting down a stream. Someone pinched his ass as he was carried back, making him laugh._

_After a bit, he was gently lowered to the floor again, a big bulky guy who was almost as tall as him keeping him steady as he regained his balance._

_“Happy birthday, Sam,” the guy said, grinning._

_“Thanks.” Sam smiled back and the guy pulled him down by the back of the neck and kissed him full on the mouth. He tasted like beer and cigarettes which wasn’t very pleasant for Sam, but he still responded eagerly, pulling the guy in hard by the waist and deepening the kiss._

_After he pulled away, both of them smiling, Sam thanked him again and excused himself, heading back towards the bar where he had left Cas and Dean._

“And that’s the story of how I came out,” Sam said sardonically. “And I don’t remember it.”

There was a knock on the door and Castiel got up to answer it.

“That’s the least of your concerns, Sammy.” Dean was fiddling with the tie on his teddy bear’s head, looking up when the scent of food wafted in, Castiel was pushing in the cart of food Gabriel had ordered.

Sam and Dean loaded up their plated with the greasiest sausages and bacon, with sides of scrambled eggs and a mug of the blackest coffee each. Castiel fixed himself a cup as well while Gabriel helped himself to the banana’s fosters desert he had ordered.

“What did we do after the clubs?” Sam asked, cheek full of scrambled eggs.

“Was that when you guys brought the strippers back to the hotel?” Dean turned to Gabriel, talking through a strip of bacon.

“No.” Gabriel sucked some sugar off his thumb and Sam hurriedly turned his eyes back to the plate of food on his lap. “That came later. First, we hit the slots and Cas won big time.”

Dean chuckled and Castiel rolled his eyes. “I remember that. We went swimming to celebrate.”

“I still don’t understand how that is considered a suitable form of celebration,” Castiel commented.

“You had fun, didn’t you?” Dean’s grin was wolfish.

Castiel didn’t answer, but there was a quirk of his lips that looked like a smile.

_Sam had seen Dean naked a number of times before. Living on the road and sharing small motel rooms all the time made those unwelcome situations unavoidable, no matter how hard they tried._

_But he’d never seen Dean naked like this._

_“It’s called skinny dipping, Cas!”_

_Dean was standing by the edge of the pool with nothing but his watch and leather bracelet on, completely unabashed and more than a little bit wasted. There was no one around but the four of them, but Sam figured he could have some decency around his own brother and a lascivious archangel._

_“I know the…proper vernacular for this activity, Dean,” Castiel grumbled out and Sam was glad to note that he was much less sober than before. “I just don’t see its purpose.”_

_“The purpose, little bro,” Gabriel explained as he—to Sam’s mortification—started undressing as well, “is to go for a pleasant swim with all your bits hanging. Nothing to it at all. Don’t overthink it and strip.”_

_“You too, Sammy!” Dean called out before cannon-balling into the pool with a loud ‘whoop!’. Gabriel followed behind with an elegant swan dive which made all of their ungraceful, drunken selves look really bad._

_Castiel and Sam exchanged looks and Castiel said, “Our brothers seem to be terrible influences on us,” before undoing his tie and pulling off his coat._

_It was probably the alcohol, but Sam could definitely see the appeal of swimming naked in a freezing cold pool in the dark of night._

_It was definitely the alcohol._

_Not one to be left behind, Sam started undoing his own layers. He was down to his underwear, skin prickling from the cold, and Castiel was completely naked and jumping into the pool to whistles and cheers from Dean and Gabriel._

_“Your turn, Sammy!” Dean encouraged._

_“Take it off, baby!” Gabriel called as he back-stroked across the pool, which made Sam pause, suddenly rethinking this idea._

_Sam was glad it was dark and no one could see the heat on his cheeks. He knew Gabriel’s taunting and flirting—if what Gabriel was doing could be considered ‘flirting’—shouldn’t get to him because it’s not that Gabriel means anything by it. He’s just like that._

_But it would be a lot easier for Sam to not be affected by it if he hadn’t developed a strong attraction to the angel in the weeks of working together. A strong attraction that verged dangerously on a really embarrassing crush._

_Sam felt that he was just drunk enough to strip in front of his brother, best friend, and the guy he stupidly liked for some unfathomable reason. Inhaling and exhaling, Sam pulled off his underwear and tried in vain to ignore Gabriel’s wolf-whistling._

_When Sam straightened up again, exposing himself, he was mentally bracing himself for Gabriel’s comment. Which was—_

_“Holy schlong, Winchester! I hope you’ve got the proper permits for that thing!”_

_“Dude!” Dean pushed Gabriel’s head underwater. “That’s my brother, you pervert!” He turned to Sam and said, “Now get in the pool, Dickzilla!”_

_Sam decided he’d be better off not shooting some smartass remark and just jumped into the pool._

_What ensued after that was an impressive display of childishness. They all splashed and wrestles in the water, throwing a myriad of ridiculous names and insults at each other. At one point, Sam held Castiel underwater for ten minutes before he remembered that angels didn’t really need to breathe and Cas was probably just messing with him. Dean laughed at him when Cas came back up with a shit-eating grin on his face and Sam tackled him._

_It didn’t take long for Dean to get a hold of Castiel (by swimming very slowly with just his eyes above the water, Gabriel helpfully supplying the Jaws theme song in the background and Castiel watching on in utter bemusement). When he reached Castiel and Gabriel reached the climax of the song, Dean jumped out of the water with a growl and latched himself onto Castiel, teeth at his neck. Castiel laughed and tried to wrestle him off while Dean continued kissing and nibbling at his throat. Dean reached his mouth and kissed him deeply, arms still wrapped around him. They migrated to the edge of the pool, Dean pressing Castiel against the wall and Cas bringing his legs up to hook around Dean’s waist._

_Sam pursed his lips grumpily and turned to look at Gabriel, who was watching their brothers eat each other’s faces, looking very unimpressed._

_“I don’t wanna watch this,” Sam grumbled. He splashed a wave of water at the couple, but they didn’t separate, to no one’s surprise._

_“Let’s go, Sammich. Put your monster dick away and let’s find something funner to do.” Gabriel was climbing out of the pool and snapping a pair of towels into existence, then drying himself with one of them, the other one laying out and waiting for Sam._

_“What do you suggest we do while these two go at it like bunnies?” Sam toweled himself off and hoped Gabriel wouldn’t noticed him checking out his ass while he got dressed._

_“Strippers, Sam. There’s nothing funner than strippers.”_

“I think my bear needs a name,” Dean mumbled, turning the bear over in his hands as if a name was printed somewhere on his furry body.

“Your brother is suffering from amnesia, Dean,” Castiel chastised. “Is now really the most appropriate time to be thinking about your stuffed bear?”

“Why do you even still have that thing?” Sam asked, agreeing with Castiel and wrinkling his nose at the toy as if it had personally insulted him.

Dean shrugged. “I don’t know, man. To bring back good memories, I guess. You know, ‘cause I still have mine.”

Rolling his eyes, Sam turned to Gabriel, who was watching Dean with the bear with a mildly amused expression on his face. He had been uncharacteristically sour the whole time they were explaining things to Sam. It couldn’t be much longer till whatever it was that Sam had done to him came up in the chronology of last night.

“What happened after we left Cas and Dean making out in the pool, Gabriel?” he asked tentatively. Something inside him curled up and cowered when Gabriel turned cold eyes on him.

“That’s when things got interesting,” Gabriel replied and even though his voice was its normal teasing tone, there was an underlying hiss to it.

_Melody. That was her name. Melody. She had long black waves and green eyes and a belly button piercing with a silver music note charm dangling off the end. Sam chuckled mentally. Her name was Melody and she had a music note piercing. Cute._

_Sam was more drunk than he could ever remember being and he supposed it was some magic of Gabriel’s keeping him awake because normally he would have been out cold five drinks ago.  Except that Gabriel seemed to be almost as drunk as he was, which was really saying something for an archangel-slash-pagan-god._

_Speaking of the archangel-slash-pagan-god, he was currently being straddled just like Sam was, except by a redhead named…something… Her name didn’t matter. She was a redhead in a golden bikini and that was all Gabriel needed to know._

_They had used their handy dandy Angelic Teller Machine money and paid extra to bring a couple of strippers back to their hotel room. The fact that these were_ strippers _and not_ prostitutes _had been stressed extensively before they’d left, but both Sam and Gabriel knew that was just a cover. Las Vegas isn’t known for its conservatism, after all._

_It didn’t matter that both of them knew and the two girls in their laps knew it, no matter how much Melody tried to get Sam interested in her, he just couldn’t focus on her._

_“You’re really pretty,” Sam slurred, hands on her fishnet-clad thighs. “You’re so so pretty and kissing you would be awesome…” Her pretty glossed lips parted and she leaned in but then Sam went on, “But I don’t really wanna kiss you, no matter how awesome it would be.”_

_Melody looked put off and kind of insulted and Sam felt instantly bad so he wrapped his arms around her and hugged her. “No, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it like that!”_

_When he let her go, she looked down at him with an amused smile and Sam realized that he had just hugged a stripper who was way too sober for his comfort, considering he was so completely wasted._

_“That’s all right, hun,” she said and it was probably really cheesy, but Sam realized why she was called Melody. Her voice sounded like a song. “I bet there’s someone else you’d rather be kissin’ on and that’s why you won’t kiss me, is that right?” She sat on his knees, halting her gyrating dance, and just looked at him like a friend opening up for conversation._

_“There kinda is,” Sam confessed, giggling and hiccupping as he did._

_Melody chuckled and poked him. “Go on, then, tell me about her.”_

_“Oh, it’s not a her.” Sam blushed. “It’s a guy, and he’s…well…he’s kind of an angel.” He kept his voice down because just a few feet away, Gabriel was being entertained by his own friend and Sam didn’t want him to overhear. “He’s really funny and pretty hot, even if he’s kind of short for me…”_

_“Everyone’s kind of short for you, Sasquatch,” Melody pointed out teasingly and it sounded so like something Gabriel would say that Sam almost did kiss her right there._

_“Good point…” Sam looked around her to check if Gabriel was still distracted. “He’s got really awesome eyes, they look like gold. Except when he’s angry, they look like fire. I’ve only ever seen him really angry at me once, and that was when I came up with this really dumb idea. He was so angry because I was going to get hurt and sometimes I think of that and pretend he likes me as much as I like him…”_

_Melody looked over her shoulder at their two companions and turned back to Sam, no longer looking amused and instead very sober. “You think he doesn’t like you back?”_

_“I know he doesn’t,” Sam sighed. There was something in his brain that was telling him he should probably stop now, but he had always been a blabby drunk. “He’s too great and amazing and I’m kind of lame and stupid. He thinks of me as that dumb guy he can’t get rid of. I know he’ll never love me like I love him.”_

_“You love him?” Melody muttered, eyes flashing to the side._

_“More than I’ve ever loved anyone,” Sam admitted forlornly._

_“And you’re absolutely sure he doesn’t love you back?”_

_“One hundred percent.”_

_Melody’s lips curved into a smile again and she climbed off his lap, giving his shoulder a little squeeze. “I highly doubt that. You seem like a smart guy, Sasquatch. If only you weren’t shit-faced you’re probably realize how wrong you are.”_

_She went over to her friend on Gabriel’s lap and whispered in her ear. Her friend immediately stopped dancing and looked down at Gabriel, smiled, and climbed off his lap. Melody kissed Sam’s cheek and the other dancer kissed Gabriel’s and the two girls left the room, Melody calling back, “You two crazy kids have fun now!”_

_Gabriel was looking at Sam and Sam realized exactly what he’d done. And didn’t regret it at all._

“Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God,” Sam was mumbling to himself, face in his hands. “Oh my God, I can’t believe I…oh my God.”

Gabriel rolled his eyes. “You confessed your undying love for me,” he said dryly. “It’s not that big of a deal.”

“Why don’t I remember that?” Sam bemoaned. “I can’t believe I didn’t remember that…how could I have forgotten that? _How?_ ”

No wonder Gabriel was so bitter and upset.

“Oh, God, Gabriel I am so, so sorry I forgot that.” Gabriel raised an eyebrow at him. “I know you’re upset…damn, I would be too. You have every right to be pissed at me, I am so, so sorry.”

Gabriel snorted. “If you feel so bad about forgetting that, I can’t wait to see how crappy you feel after we finish telling you all about last night.”

Sam gulped. “I don’t think I wanna hear anymore.”

“Oh, no. If we had to live through it and remember it the next day, so do you.” Gabriel pointed a menacing finger at him and Sam sighed and sagged.

“All right…so what happened after my extremely embarrassing confession?”

“We had really great, really drunk sex,” Gabriel replied simply and Sam felt like dying. Heat crawled all over his body, shame and embarrassment lighting up every blood vessel in his body.

“I don’t think we need to really go into detail in this part,” Dean cut in uncomfortably. “Let’s just leave that memory unremembered, shall we?”

“Too late,” Sam mumbled, eyes on the floor. He could feel the moments coming back to him now, like water droplets in a leaky faucet, dripping slowly into consciousness. The more he remembered, the faster the scene flowed through his mind, like someone opening the faucet little by little until the whole thing was filling his mind, on the brink of overflowing.

_Gabriel was soft and solid beneath him, his skin tender and sweet when Sam squeezed it, stroked it, savored it. His tongue was in Sam’s mouth, in his ear, at his neck, on his collarbone and chest. There were hands grabbing and legs grinding and shifting, all hunger and desperation. It was messy and hurried, but it was raw and sweet. It was good, and Gabriel was vocal, loud in his ear when Sam was inside him. Sam’s fingernails were probably too hard on Gabriel’s arm, but Gabriel never complained and when it was over, Gabriel didn’t get dressed and leave. He stayed and filled Sam’s nose with the scent of come and booze._

_“Is this real?” Sam muttered into Gabriel’s mouth and Gabriel replied, “As real as anything can be, Sam.”_

_“You make people and monsters out of thin air,” Sam pointed out, pulling away to look down at him. “Who are you to be a judge on the reality of things?”_

_“Why are you getting existential on me when your tongue is supposed to be in my mouth?”_

_“Because I need to know if I’m going to regret this in the morning, if this was just a drunken fling.” No matter how drunk he may be, letting Gabriel take advantage of his blubbering confessions of love was not something he would simply allow._

_Gabriel kissed him again, pulling his mouth into his so hard it felt like Gabriel was trying to swallow him whole. “Marry me, Sam. I’d marry you right now if you’d let me.” Another kiss. “How’s that for real?”_

“I’ll admit it wasn’t  the best proposal in the world,” Gabriel said nonchalantly, checking his nails, avoiding Sam’s eye. “But I thought it was at least memorable.”

Sam swallowed and wrung his hands on his lap. “I…” He bit his lip, unsure what to say to make this situation better. “Well…now that I remember it…I think it was a pretty great one.”

“You get a B for effort,” Dean commented and Sam glared at him. He tried to will the bear in his hands on fire with his mind, but nothing happened so he turned back to Gabriel, who was still not looking at him.

“You thought it was pretty great last night, too,” Gabriel commented, stretching out against the headboard, looking completely at ease, but Sam could tell how upset he really was. “Considering you said ‘yes’.”

“I did what?!”

_Dean was way more excited about the prospect of his little brother marrying the archangel that had killed him a few hundred times than Sam would have guessed. But at least he was fully dressed, which was blessing. And he also, for some reason, had Castiel’s tie around his head, which Sam wasn’t going to ask about._

_“You should get married right now!” Dean exclaimed after hearing the news from the couple. “Right now! This is the greatest thing to ever happen! Let’s go to the chapels and get you two married!”_

_“Right now?” Sam started asking but Dean was already rushing out the door, calling, “I’m the best man! I’m the best man and no one else, Sammy!”_

_They followed Dean out of the hotel, Gabriel’s hand in Sam’s and Castiel trying to keep his boyfriend under control. There was a chapel a few blocks from the hotel and—because life seemed to be in a rewarding mood that day—it was a themed wedding chapel._

_“I wanna dress up like Elvis!” Gabriel called out, sounding like a little kid at Halloween. “I wanna get married wearing an Elvis costume, like all those lame Vegas movies!”_

_“Well, then what am I gonna dress up as?” Sam scratched his head. “Can’t be dressed like Elvis too. Elvis can’t marry Elvis.”_

_“What’s the second corniest Vegas wedding theme after Elvis?”_

_“Star Trek,” Dean answered, a bit too quick. “Or the 70s.”_

_Gabriel climbed on Sam’s back, wrapping his legs around his waist and kissing his neck. “I think Captain Kirk and Elvis would make a pretty hot couple, don’t you?” He grinned. “Then again, we could get you an afro if we did 70s. You’d look ridiculous with an afro and that’s something I kind of want to see.”_

_Grinning, Sam hooked his arms under Gabriel’s knees and carried his soon-to-be husband into the chapel, knees shaky and legs like jelly. It was a miracle he could stand while so drunk, let alone walk. But he was with Gabriel, who was pretty known for miracles._

_“We wanna get married!” he announced to the blonde receptionist at the front desk. “My fiancée here is gonna dress up like Elvis—“ he gave Gabriel a little bounce, making the angel giggle into his neck like a little girl—“and I’m gonna dress up as Captain Kirk…with a big afro.”_

_The receptionist—Sandra, her nametag said—quirked a brow at them. “That’s an interesting choice. Do you have a marriage license?”_

_“Uhh…” Gabriel shifted. “No. We decided to get married like five minutes ago after we fucked like animals, so…haven’t had much time to do that.” Sam snorted, although normally he’d be blushing._

_Sandra nodded, understanding. “Yeah, that’s pretty common…sorry, we can’t marry you without a license.”_

_“Can we get one here?” Sam asked desperately, feeling his good mood deflating._

_“We don’t give licenses to intoxicated people, sorry.” She shrugged, although she didn’t look very sorry at all and Sam kind of considered asking Gabriel to turn her into a hamster. “It’s our policy.”_

_“Your policy is bullshit!” Gabriel exclaimed, but Sam was already carrying him back out the door, head hung like a kicked puppy._

_“What are we gonna do now?” he whined, setting Gabriel down  on the ground once they were out in the parking lot._

_“I don’t care what anyone says,” Gabriel exclaimed, turning to glare at the chapel that had rejected them. “I am an archangel and I am going to marry my hunter now no matter what!”_

_Feeling an embarrassing surge of affection, Sam wrapped his arms around Gabriel and swept him up off the ground, kissing his face. “But no one will marry us while we’re drunk.”_

_“Marriage, as conservative politicians insist on reminding us, is a sacred, religious union,” Gabriel said, hand curling around Sam’s ass. “And what’s more sacred and religious than a full-fledged Angel of the Lord?” He turned his wolfish grin on Castiel, whose eyebrows flew into his hair for a moment before he shrugged._

_“All right, I suppose. I’ll ordain this wedding for you if you wish.”_

_“Awesome!” Gabriel squeezed Sam’s ass excitedly, making him yelp. “Now we just need the costumes. Wait here.”_

_He snapped himself away, leaving the three of them waiting in the parking lot._

_“I need a flower, man,” Dean mumbled, tongue heavy. “How can I be a best man without a flower? That’s just wrong.” He stumbled over to the flower bushes by the chapel and picked one of them, a large red one that Sam didn’t recognize. It was a plain flower, with a thin stem and five petals. Dean looked down at his flannel shirt and tried to find a place to put it. He tried slipping the stem through one of the button holes, but it fell off and he pursed his lips in annoyance as he tried to find a better alternative. Finally, Castiel sighed, took the flower gingerly from Dean’s fingers and slipped it into the tie around his head, nice and snug. Dean smiled and pecked him on the lips._

_“I’m back!” Gabriel announced as he reappeared behind them, fully clad in an Elvis outfit and carrying a tie-dye t-shirt, brown tasseled pants, and a fluffy wig._

_“I think the pants might not fit you,” Gabriel pouted. “So just put on the shirt and wig. There were some funny sticky sideburns that came with it, but you’ve got enough sideburns already.”_

_Sam took off his shirt hurriedly, excited fingers fumbling on the buttons._

_“That’s all mine,” Gabriel muttered, smirking as he eyes Sam’s naked torso. Sam smiled to himself and pulled the tie-dye shirt over his head. Gabriel pulled him down so he could shove the wig onto his head and Sam adjusted it before turning to Castiel._

_“All right, Cas. We’re ready. Marry us.”_

_“But skip the hokey speech, will ya?”_

_“Mawage!” Dean chimed in. “Mawage is wot bwings us togeder today. Mawage, that bwessed awangement—“_

_“Dean!” Sam chastised. “Shut up!”_

_Chuckling, Dean took his place by Sam’s side while Sam and Gabriel hooked their arms together and stood before Castiel._

_“No speech?” Castiel mumbled, frowning. “So…we should skip straight to the vows then? Do you have anything to say to each other?”_

_Gabriel and Sam exchanged a look and shrugged._

_“I didn’t prepare anything,” Sam admitted._

_“Neither did I. We didn’t have much time to plan, did we?” Gabriel’s face split into a grin. “Wait! I’m great at pulling this stuff out of my ass! Give me a second…”_

_He took Sam’s hands and turned so they were facing each other._

_“Sam Winchester…” He cleared his throat. “You are one hot piece of ass.” Sam snorted. “I can’t wait till we can fuck like bunnies all die during our honeymoon. And we can do some kinky shit. Like handcuffs and chocolate syrup, that’s always fun. We’re gonna have so much sex after this that your giant dong will probably fall off, but that’s okay. I’m an archangel, I can heal that.”_

_Sam smiled and figured that was all there was to Gabriel’s speech and he should probably say something too, so he started to open his mouth, but then Gabriel squeezed his hands and his eyes flashed away. He looked down at his feet and took a deep breath, and when he looked back up at Sam, there was a clarity and seriousness in his face that hadn’t been there a moment ago. He looked completely sober and like his heart was about to explode. His eyes even glistened with a little wetness._

_“I’m sorry I killed your brother a million times,” he said, voice deep, not a hint of teasing. “I’m sorry I stuck you in TV Land and hit you in the balls. I’m sorry I turned you into a car and I’m sorry I’ve abused you and tormented you since the first day we met. I just care about you so much and I just wanted to help and teach you a lesson and I don’t have the best methods of doing that, I know, and I’m sorry, but I did it with the best intentions. I don’t deserve your forgiveness and I don’t deserve your trust, and I sure as hell don’t deserve your love. I’ve lived amongst humans for millennia and never have I met one that I—“ He swallowed and for a second, Sam really thought he would break and start crying. Sam definitely felt like he was about to, like his chest was expanding to ten times its size and he couldn’t breathe._

_With one more deep breath, Gabriel continued. “I’ve never met a human that I would go back home for once they were gone. But you, Sam Winchester…I’d face all my brothers and sisters again just to see you in Heaven for eternity when you die. ‘Till death do us part’? I say fuck that.”_

I can’t kiss him yet, I can’t kiss him yet, I can’t kiss him yet, _Sam repeated to himself right before he swooped down and pressed his lips to Gabriel’s._

_There was a tugging on his stupid tie-dye shirt that pulled Sam back and Dean said, “I know that was very sweet and all, but you’re not supposed to kiss him yet.”_

_Sam pulled away but kept his face an inch from Gabriel’s, not wanting to go too far._

_“My turn for vows?” Gabriel smiled at him and Sam cleared his throat. He tried to think of how to put his feelings into coherent words, something that wasn’t easy for him to do when sober and thinking clearly. Then again, alcohol usually got his tongue loose and his emotions heightened, so it couldn’t be that hard._

_“I think…” He breathed a laugh. “I think you’re annoying. But you make me laugh and you show you care in your own weird way, which I think is great. And…uh…” Maybe it wasn’t as easy as he had thought. He licked his lips, gripped Gabriel’s hands tighter and tried again. “I feel safe when I’m with you. I know I shouldn’t because you’ve abused the hell out of us and killed us a few times in the past, but I do. I feel that when I’m with you, I’m safe and that nothing can hurt me. I feel happy when you’re around and I miss you when you’re not. I’ve fallen in love before but it wasn’t like this, it wasn’t anything like this. It wasn’t as good as this and I want to keep this forever.”_

_Gabriel wasn’t smiling, but he looked like someone had hit him in the face with a shovel. Sam felt like he had no air in his lungs, that there was only heat and purpose and a desire for something he’d only ever had a taste of before. Maybe it was just his inebriation, but Sam thought that this is what finding your soulmate felt like. It felt like a cold night in a Las Vegas chapel parking lot wearing a tie-dye shirt and a fluffy wig while holding the hands of the Elvis you were going to spend the rest of your life—or existence—with. It felt like drinking too much and saving the world and falling in love for the last time. It felt like forever._

_Castiel cleared in his throat. “In that case…uh…there are no rings, so I guess that part will have to wait. By the power vested in me, by God Himself, as an Angel of the Lord, I pronounce you, Archangel Gabriel, Messenger of the Lord, and Sam Winchester, Savior of the World, husband and husband. You may now kiss.”_

_Now that Sam already knew what forever felt like, he knew what it tasted like. And it tasted like rum and Elvis Presley’s lips._

“This is the part where things get awkward,” Dean muttered to himself, eyes on his bear. “I know! His name is Frankie.”

“Why Frankie?” Castiel asked.

“Not sure. He just looks like a Frankie, don’t you think?”

Gabriel had grown sulkier and sulkier as they recounted the details of their unorthodox wedding.  Sam felt like reaching out and taking his hand, apologizing and begging for forgiveness.

On the plus side, he recalled every detail of the night. The stories had jogged his memory enough for it to fill in the blank spaces they had left out, which Sam was grateful for.

“I remember it all now,” he said, almost apologetically.

Gabriel turned to him with a dry expression. “Do ya?”

“Yeah,” he muttered, abashed. “After that, we came back to the hotel room. I changed out of the tie-dye shirt and Dean wanted to take a shower, but he passed out in the tub.” Sam frowned, recalling the details. “I called you to help me get him out because I was too drunk to do it myself, but you just laughed and popped a teddy bear in his hands. I guess it must have morphed into the grizzly while we slept…” Sam eyed Frankie warily, as if he would transform into a four hundred pound beast any second. “I was too tired to go back into the hotel room, so I just fell asleep in the bathroom and then…I woke up…”

“And here we are, sober and coherent.” Gabriel’s voice was sardonic and almost harsh. He was angry and hurt and was trying so hard to hide it. Sam felt like crawling up into a little ball and dying. “So, if that will be all, gents. I’ve got places to be that aren’t, y’know, _here._ ”

Before any of them could say anything, Gabriel had snapped himself away and Sam was left with his misery and Castiel and Dean’s pitying looks. And Frankie’s blank teddy bear expression.

***

“Come on, Gabe,” Sam groaned, knocking his head back against the wall he was leaning against in frustration. He’d been up on the hotel’s rooftop for three hours, praying and calling to Gabriel to come back. He’d given up on the pleading and just sat down next to the rooftop door and resorted to calling Gabriel’s name again and again, to no avail.

“I know you hear me, don’t be such a baby.”

No response.

“I know you know I feel like shit about this. I know you do so why don’t you come down here and tell me what an idiot I am? Come on, Gabe. I know you want to.”

Still nothing.

“I’ve apologized a million times. I don’t know what else you want me to say!”

He knocked his head back against the wall again. He hid his face in his hands and sighed, muttering to himself, “We’re supposed to be on our honeymoon…”

“Oh, and that suddenly means something to you?”

Sam nearly jumped out of his skin at the sound of Gabriel’s voice coming out of nowhere.  He looked up and found the angel standing on the edge of the roof, looking at him with and unimpressed eyebrow cocked.

“Damn it, Gabe,” he mumbled. “Scared the crap out of me…” He got to his feet shakily, his legs kind of numb from sitting on the cold concrete roof for so long. “Look, I know that I hurt you, but you gotta understand…I didn’t mean to. Not at all.”

Gabriel crossed his arms. Sam had seen Gabriel take every insult and threat and rude remark thrown his way (usually by Dean) and watched them roll off his back like water. Nothing ever affected Gabriel like this, nothing ever upset him like this.

“You’re not human, man,” Sam tried. “You’ve never gotten so wasted you forgot everything the next morning. You said it yourself, my brain was all scrambled from my showdown with Lucifer, and then getting shitfaced right after that? Of course I’m gonna have some kind of trauma. You gotta understand this isn’t my fault.”

Gabriel’s eyes narrowed and he stepped off the ledge and stepped towards Sam. “You’re right. I’ve never gotten so shitfaced I forgot everything. I’m pretty sure there’s not enough booze in the world to make that happen. But I have seen other humans do it. And I get it, I know it’s not your fault.” He pressed his lips together and looked away, as if looking at Sam right now was difficult for him. “But I would think that the things you said to me last night…that you’d at least remember _something._ The way you talked about me, I figured that I meant enough to you to remember at least the important details. Like that _we got married._ Pretty sure that would mean something to you, but I guess—“

“It means everything to me!” Sam protested. “Getting married—it’s all I’ve ever wanted! You know that. And I finally found someone who I can do that with and I am so, so sorry I forgot but it’s not fair to think that I don’t care. Because trust me, Gabe, _I care._ I care a lot. I care that we had sex, and I care that we got married, and I care about _you._ ”

Gabriel looked back up at him, lips pursed. Sam tried to look as sincere as possible, eyes wide and mouth quirked in a frown, the puppydog look that Dean could never say no to.

“You’re a friggin’ sap, Winchester,” Gabriel grumbled, and Sam knew he had been forgiven.

Sam laughed. “ _I’m_ the sap? Did you forget your vows from last night? Because I sure as hell didn’t.”

Gabriel’s lips split into a grin and he laughed heartily, pulling Sam down for a kiss.

“Where should we spend our honeymoon?” Sam asked, arms around Gabriel’s waist and the tip of his nose touching his husband’s. “And if you say Vegas….”

Gabriel chuckled. “Nah, not Vegas. I was thinking…Atlantic City?”

Sam snorted and kissed him again. “Idiot.” He rested his forehead against Gabriel’s and closed his eyes, breathing in the cold night air and Gabriel’s scent. “Wherever we go….there’s one thing I want to do before we leave.”

“Hm? What’s that?”

Sam pulled away and grinned impishly down at Gabriel. “Let’s steal Dean’s teddy bear.”

**THE END**

****

**Author's Note:**

> Drawing of Frankie the Bear by the absolutely lovely [Lulu](luluisyoung.tumblr.com). She is the absolute most fabulous person ever. :)
> 
> Fun fact: During the writing process of this fic, I actually made out with a girl who was so drunk she completely forgot the next morning, so I have at least an idea of how upset Gabriel felt.


End file.
